


The Magical Oven of the Forest

by MoiraColleen



Category: Original Work
Genre: Agender Character, Asexual Awareness Week, Asexual Character, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Luna the Magical Oven of the Forest, Quest, Somewhat fractured fairy tale, asexuality mascot unidragon, bit late I know, but we deserve fairy tales too, three princes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoiraColleen/pseuds/MoiraColleen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a land where food is plentiful but boring, three princes go on a quest for cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Magical Oven of the Forest

Long ago in a faraway land there lived a king and his three sons. Life in the realm was good for all, and the poorest peasants had food to spare, but even the meals that graced the royal table often gave much nourishment but little pleasure.

One day as the king rode out to inspect his holdings, he heard two spinster sisters speaking with anticipation of a delicious pastry they would enjoy with their evening meal. Intrigued, the king hailed the sisters and inquired what this delicacy might be. With much excitement one of the spinsters told the king a tale of a wondrous beast called a Unidragon who lived deep in the forest and baked the most delectable cakes with their magical flame and shared them only with those who could truly appreciate them. As the first spinster finished speaking, the second returned—for the sisters were generous women—and made the king a present of four small, round pastries the like of which the royal family had never beheld, imploring him to share them with his sons that very day. The king accepted the gift with grace and returned to the castle.

At the end of a filling but bland supper, the princes rose to attend their evening diversions, but their father bade them return to their seats. Without preamble, the king produced the cakes given him by the spinsters and distributed them among his children, keeping one for himself. The younger men looked askance at the strange offering, but did as their father commanded and joined him in tasting the peasants’ gift. At the first bite, their eyes opened wide, and they could scarcely chew for smiling. When the time came to swallow, it was as though paradise had distilled itself down their throats.

The king told his sons the tale of the Unidragon as related by the spinster. The eldest son vowed at once to seek the creature out and obtain more of the delicacy. “The beast shares their bounty with those who appreciate it. Surely,” he said, “they can desire no greater accolade than the appreciation of royal blood.”

The very next day the eldest prince ventured alone into the forest. He wore light mail and bore only a dagger. “It would not do to make the Unidragon believe I wish them harm,” he said when his father’s advisors questioned his choice of arms.

After several hours’ travel along a well-worn path, the eldest prince smelled a delicious odor that put him in mind of the cake he had enjoyed the evening before. He hastened his steps, and the smell grew stronger as he walked. Suddenly, he came upon a clearing. He could see that the path continued beyond the clearing, but his gaze wandered to an opulent pavilion that stood close by.

“Hail, son of the king.” A voice, soft and enticing, drew the eldest prince to the door. Daring to peer inside, he discovered a woman, fair of face and buxom, clad in a robe of red velvet, reclining on silken cushions. The woman waved a hand and a bottle of wine and two glasses appeared along with a bowl of ripe fruit. “You have traveled far, young prince. Come inside and refresh yourself,” she said.

The prince hesitated. “I seek the lair of the Unidragon, fair maiden,” he said. “The beast holds a prize my father and brothers and I much covet.”

“And is this need so urgent that you must be on your way at once? Is there nothing I can offer that might tempt you?” So saying, the maiden rose and let her velvet robe fall away, revealing a shift of the thinnest gauze that clung to her like a second skin. The prince stepped forward to embrace her, all thought of his quest forgotten.

At dawn’s first light, the eldest prince pulled on his clothing and stepped outside the pavilion. At first he noticed nothing amiss; then he realized that the smell of the Unidragon’s cake had disappeared as though it had never been there. “Have I dallied too long?” he exclaimed.

“Not too long, my prince,” spoke the lady from the darkness within. “Say rather that you have chosen what your heart truly desired.”

The prince turned around to ask what she meant, only to find that lady and pavilion both had vanished into the mists of morning.

The eldest prince was filled with shame at having been so distracted. Thus it was that when his father exclaimed over his disheveled state, the prince asserted that he had been set upon by bandits and barely escaped with his life.

The second eldest prince was a man much fond of arms training, and he recognized his brother’s bruises as the marks of a very different kind of struggle. He held his tongue to spare his brother’s pride; yet he could not forget the sweet taste of the Unidragon’s cake. He, too, set out alone, armed with heavier mail and a long sword.

Like his brother, the second prince followed the smell of the baking pastry to the clearing, where he also discovered the grand pavilion. When a melodious voice greeted him from within, the prince drew his sword and commanded the speaker to present themselves. The door flaps of the pavilion parted, and a tall man stepped forth. Around his loins he wore a breechcloth of soft brown suede. His chest was bare, save for an ornate torc of gold that gleamed in the sunlight against his bronzed skin.

All things happened as before, and the second prince returned home the next day with a tale not of bandits, but a wild beast which his sword was ill-suited to slay. “If only I had brought a boar-spear instead,” he avowed, “things would have fallen differently.”

The youngest prince was a thoughtful man, content to keep his own council. His family thought him odd, for though he had many friends in and outside the court, the youngest prince showed no interest in any of the fleshly pleasures so often pursued by his compatriots. He considered his brothers’ tales and found them wanting. “For surely,” the youngest prince thought, “the spinsters would not venture so lightly where armed men dare not tread.”

Before dawn the next morning, the youngest prince slipped in secret from the castle and made his way into the forest. He took no weapons, thinking perhaps the dangers his brothers encountered were merely the Unidragon’s own defenses against an armed incursion.

The sun was high when the youngest prince smelled the aroma of the Unidragon’s baking. With renewed strength, he followed the smell to the clearing. As before, the pavilion stood by the path. “Hail, young prince,” spoke an enticing voice from within.

The youngest prince paused before the opening. “Forgive my haste,” he said, remembering his manners, “but I seek the Unidragon, and by the smell of pastries baking I believe their home lies nearby. This quest has thwarted both of my brothers, and I must not tarry lest my father suffer a third disappointment.”

“But you have already traveled far, my lord. Can you not spare a moment to refresh yourself? By the smell of the baking, I can tell you that the Unidragon’s cakes are not yet ready. Why not come and sit with me? I know many ways we might pass the time together.”

The youngest prince bowed slightly toward the unseen speaker. “My thanks for your kind invitation,” he answered, “but I must decline. A precious prize awaits me, and I would not lose the chance of it.”

“May the reward you seek be yours,” said the voice. The youngest prince waited a moment out of courtesy, but the speaker said no more, so he continued on his way.

The moment the youngest prince turned away from the pavilion, the aroma of the cakes redoubled. The prince had eaten nothing since the early morning, and now surrounded by the delicious smell, he thought he would go mad with hunger. He pressed on, leaving the clearing to follow the path down into a wide ravine where a crystal river sparkled and danced among the granite boulders. Just when he thought he could go no further without food, the youngest prince found himself standing on a wide expanse of polished stone a man’s height above the river. A massive willow spread its branches over a cave mouth in the ravine wall. No oven was apparent, but the very air was thick with the heat and smell of baking.

A flash of movement under the willow caught the prince’s eye. He turned in time to see a long spiral, white as ivory, emerge, guided by the sleek purple equine head of the great Unidragon. The Unidragon paused at the entrance to the cave and regarded the youngest prince with eyes like living amethyst.

“Welcome, young one,” the Unidragon said. Their voice was neither male nor female, but deep and melodious all the same. They stepped into full view, stretching their feathery white wings as though they had just awakened from a restful sleep. “Have no fear,” they continued, seeing the youngest prince take a pace backward. “You have proven yourself worthy, and you shall have what you seek. Rest, now, and observe well.”

The prince sat down on a moss-covered boulder and watched as the Unidragon mixed their ingredients in a large bowl and carefully poured them into small pans with curious little legs. They set the pans down on the polished stone and stepped back. The glance they gave the youngest prince was almost mischievous. To the prince’s wonderment, the Unidragon then breathed a column of flame that surrounded the pans in spheres of golden warmth. Before the prince’s very eyes, the cakes rose, gleaming in the magic firelight. When the baking was done, the Unidragon tipped the cakes onto silver plates they produced from within the cave. A swarm of honeybees emerged from the willow to gild the cakes with golden honey. When all was ready, the Unidragon let the youngest prince eat his fill. More than that, they presented him with a pack of the delicacies to take back to his home, with only the stipulation that he share freely what was given him.


End file.
